University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Rutgers
Huskies Advance to BIG EAST Championship Final on Sunday
5/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 30, 2010
CLICK HEAR FOR BIG EAST TOURNAMENT CENTRAL INCLUDING UPDATED BRACKET
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Mike Nemeth went 3-for-4 with four RBI and one home run as the University of Connecticut baseball team battled Rutgers to a 7-4 victory into the early hours of Sunday morning to advance to the 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Final at Bright House Field.
The Huskies will face St. John's on Sunday in the 12:04 p.m. contest, which will be televised live on ESPNU. St. John's enters the ballgame undefeated in postseason play this season after defeating top-seeded Louisville on Saturday night 5-3 to advance to the championship game. The Huskies defeated Rutgers twice on Saturday to earn the right to play in the championship contest.
With the win, UConn improves to 47-13 as Nick Ahmed chipped in with a 3-for-4 performance as well. Rutgers' postseason run comes to an end as the Scarlet Knights wrap up their season with a 30-26 overall record. Sunday will mark the Huskies' third final game appearance in their last three years playing in the BIG EAST tournament as well as their third appearance in the past four years.
Nemeth recorded his 14th home run in the first inning of tonight's contest as he hit a three-run shot over the left field wall to give UConn an early 3-0 lead. Rutgers answered back by adding two of its own runs in the frame on three hits. Nemeth added an RBI single to center on a 3-2 pitch to send George Springer across the plate for the Huskies' fourth run of the contest as they went up 4-2 in the third.
After a brief delay because of a malfunction of stadium lighting, the contest continued as UConn put another run on the board with an RBI base hit into left by Springer to extend UConn's lead to three.
Rutgers added two runs on an RBI single by Steve Nyisztor to cut the Huskies lead to one at 5-4 after seven complete innings.
Billy Ferriter recorded his third hit of the ballgame with a two-RBI single up the middle in the eighth to score Nemeth from third and Mike Olt from second to extend UConn's lead to 7-4. Nemeth recorded his 19th double of the year to get into scoring position before Olt walked. Both advanced on a sacrifice bunt by LJ Mazzilli before scoring on Ferriter's single.
Pat Butler earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the year, while Dan Feehan earned the save for his third of the year. Feehan retired the side in the ninth to close out the ballgame for the Huskies. Butler went 6.1 innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and two walks. Feehan threw 2.2, while allowing one hit, one run and one walk against 11 batters faced.
Jerry Elsing took the loss to drop to 2-2 for the Scarlet Knights. Springer added two hits and two runs scored on the night, while Ferriter finished with three hits as well. LePage contributed two hits in five at-bats.
Tonight's win marks the second victory for the Huskies against Rutgers in all-time postseason play, with both coming on Saturday during the 2010 tournament. The Huskies are now 2-4 against Rutgers in BIG EAST postseason.
The 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship game will be televised live on ESPNU, while the NCAA Baseball Selection show will be aired live on ESPN on Monday, May 31 at 12:30 p.m. The 16 NCAA Baseball Regional sites will be announced on the afternoon of Sunday, May 30 on ESPN News and on www.NCAA.com.
For all 2010 BIG EAST Baseball Championship news and information, log onto www.BigEastBaseball.com.
